Lore24 Mar 4: The Invaders

The Invaders come from the west, from the sea. Mostly they are orcs and humans, but all peoples are represented in their ranks. They travel with their women and children, and they attack boats and coastal settlements indiscriminately. According to eyewitnesses, they seem to be from different cultures, united by a common purpose. Those captured speak of fleeing from earthquakes, great famines and diseases, taking their families and plundering the eastern lands to keep themselves alive.

Unlike more affluent polities, the Invaders do not use chariots. Instead they they use swords and shields, charging at their enemies in waves, sometimes surging forwards, sometimes retreating. This is actually a quite viable tactic, often catching careless charioteers off-guard, and since chariots are slow and expensive to make, they are able to inflict great casualties not in the number of men they kill, but among the imperial treasuries, most of which cannot keep up with the losses. An ever-growing number of cities have fallen, and the constant attacks on ships and traders means it is almost impossible to get the raw materials for bronze anymore, stopping production almost entirely and leading to further degradation in the imperial armies. The only place that seems to be holding on is the reptilian homeland to the south, where the glorious chariots of the nobles are increasingly replaced by an ever-growing number of spear-wielding infantry.

Of course the coming of the Invaders isn’t the only thing causing the great empires to collapse. Famines and plagues ravage the lands, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions shake the earth, and subjects increasingly take up arms against their kings and emperors. And while some fear this new age of chaos, others see it as an opportunity to climb higher than they would have been able in more stable times.

 Image by Giuseppe Rava

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